Articles

Lax Septic Tank Oversight Brews Health Hazards

Janet Frankston, AJC Staff
November 28, 2003

While Atlanta's ancient sewer system is drawing attention, another potential sewage disaster is buried in back yards across the region: aging septic tanks.

For more than two decades, septic tanks have allowed metro Atlanta to sustain record growth. While cities here tend to rely on sewer systems, cheaper septic systems dominate the vast expanses of developable land outside city limits.

No longer limited to mobile homes and farms, septic tanks fill new subdivisions in Henry County. They're behind $1 million mansions in north Fulton County. They're even in Buckhead.

An estimated 400,000 septic tanks are planted in the 20-county metro region. These tanks can hold enough sewage to fill the Mall of Georgia.

Properly maintained, septic systems can function for 20 years or longer. The underground tank separates wastewater from solid waste, which is stored and broken down by bacteria. The partially treated water exits through perforated pipes called field lines and is absorbed and filtered by the soil. The sludge remaining in the tank should be pumped out every three to five years.

But state and local officials in Georgia don't require maintenance or inspection once the tanks are buried, so many homeowners don't bother. Some don't even know they have septic systems.

As tanks installed during the boom of the 1980s and '90s age, the prospect grows that many will fail. When septic tanks fail, partially treated sewage can contaminate drinking water.

Chris Nelson, who studied the region's septic tanks during his 15 years at Georgia Tech, believes metro Atlanta is nearing a crisis. He estimates 1 million people in the Atlanta region live on septic tanks, and he predicts taxpayers will have to pay to clean up widespread septic system failures. Such cleanups have cost hundreds of millions in other parts of the country.

"It's a health-hazard time bomb, it's a taxpayer time bomb, and it's an economic development time bomb," said Nelson, now the director of urban affairs and planning at Virginia Tech.

'It's been a nightmare'

Tara and Alex Messervy bought their home near Cumming in Forsyth County in March 1998. They didn't think about their septic system until last spring, when a downstairs toilet started flushing slowly and they noticed wet spots in their yard.

But they couldn't find the tank.

A sketch of its location on the county environmental health department permit issued when the tank was installed wasn't accurate. Finally, a plumber -- the third the Messervys hired -- pushed a camera down the pipe connected to their basement toilet and found the tank, under the patio, beneath 6 inches of concrete.

The Messervys hired Don Wolf to break up the patio, unearth the tank, open it and suck out the waste using a 4-inch hose connected to a truck. He later delivered the sludge to a sewage plant that accepts septic tank waste.

Wolf discovered the tank lacked waste-eating bacteria essential to the biological process that breaks down sewage. Making things worse, the tank was full and hadn't been pumped since it was installed in 1996. Wolf said he sees tanks overdue for pumping all the time.

As Wolf siphoned the sludge, Tara Messervy recoiled from the fetid pit that had been her patio. In the pit was a foot of grease mixed with human waste.

"It's been a nightmare," she said.

Pumping their tank would have cost about $200 to $350. Instead, the Messervys paid the $4,000 septic repair bill from money budgeted for a new floor.

Wolf says his biggest day is Thanksgiving, when toilets, sinks, showers, dishwashers and garbage disposals work overtime in houses crowded with guests. "Then it's emergency time."

But even ordinary days can pose problems. Doing too much laundry on a single day can overtax a system. Roots of trees near tanks can block field lines. Driving over septic systems or covering them with hard surfaces, such as concrete patios or asphalt driveways, can damage lines and limit evaporation. Washing chemicals down the sink can kill bacteria needed to break down sewage.

Vernon Goins, public information officer for the environmental health departments in Gwinnett, Rockdale and Newton counties, said homeowners should pay as much attention to their septic tanks as their roofs. "The No. 1 cause of septic tank failure is 'out of sight, out of mind,'" he said.

Pollution, health issues

When a septic system fails -- from lack of maintenance, bad installation, incorrect sizing or poor soil -- drinking water can be polluted. Untreated wastewater can leak to the surface, where rain washes it into waterways. It also can seep into groundwater and pollute wells.

Failing septic systems -- like malfunctioning sewers -- can spread viruses and pathogenic bacteria that can cause illnesses including diarrhea, hepatitis A, dysentery and, in rare cases, typhoid fever, said Robert Rubin, a professor at North Carolina State University who specializes in wastewater treatment.

Septic system failures also can be a source of E. coli , which can lead to kidney failure and death in children and the elderly.

John Sibley, president of the Georgia Conservancy, an environmental advocacy group, dislikes septic tanks for several reasons.

In addition to contributing to water pollution that can make people sick and kill fish, he believes septic systems contribute to sprawl. They must be installed on lots of at least a half-acre to accommodate field lines that carry wastewater from the tank.

Sibley also contends water recycled through septic systems takes too long to trickle back to the water table -- a problem in a region expected to fall short of drinking water in 2030. And, he said, people don't take care of the tanks.

"Expecting hundreds of thousands of septic tanks to be maintained well is asking too much," Sibley said.

Metro Atlanta adds more than 500 new residents per day, many moving from urban areas, and septic tank maintenance isn't common knowledge like changing oil in a car. Home sellers are supposed to advise buyers of the presence of septic tanks on real estate disclosure forms, but Georgia law doesn't require it.

Even when the notice is there, it's a detail some home buyers miss.

More than two years after Natalie and Mark Uebelacker moved into their Sandy Springs home, they noticed septic-pumping trucks parked in front of neighbors' homes. They also realized their street didn't have manholes. They asked neighbors and discovered their house, and the Northridge Forest subdivision, isn't connected to a sewer line.

"It never dawned on us," Natalie Uebelacker said. "We thought [the sewer bill] was included in our water bill. It's pretty scary, actually."

Public oversight lax

Despite risks to public health, septic tanks in Georgia receive little or no public oversight.

County environmental health departments don't monitor septic systems once they've inspected the soil and issued a permit; the quality of their record keeping varies widely.

Gwinnett County keeps the best records, using computers to track and catalog septic systems.

By comparison, record keeping in Fulton -- Georgia's most populous county -- is as outdated as a card catalog system. Most septic tank permits are handwritten on large, yellow index cards. With worn corners and fading ink, some cards date to the 1950s. North Fulton records are stored at the former Roswell health center, which shares a building with a dental clinic.

In Hall County, handwritten permit records are filed by name -- either of the developer, the builder or the home's first owners. A record can take hours to locate.

"It's like a treasure hunt," said Lori Allen, who has worked in Hall's environmental health department for 13 years.

In addition, county and state officials often spar over who is responsible for making sure septic tank messes get cleaned up.

The state Environmental Protection Division only regulates septic systems that process more than 10,000 gallons of wastewater per day, much more than residential septic systems. EPD took on septic-related pollution once last year, said Jim Sommerville, manager of the EPD district office that oversees much of metro Atlanta.

During that time, at least 4,200 smaller septic systems failed, according to state records.

This year, the agency has taken on three cases, including one at a Douglas County mobile home park, Sommerville said.

Records show the county environmental health department and EPD volleyed back and forth over responsibility for problems at a 103-unit trailer park in Lithia Springs. Complaints date to the early '70s.

Among those complaining these days is Sandra Duvall, who smells wastewater from overflowing septic tanks at the Lakeside mobile home park near her home. The waste leaks into a creek that runs through the yard where her dog, Jake, plays. The creek is a tributary of Sweetwater Creek; it eventually spills into the Chattahoochee River, a source of drinking water.

"I'm concerned about the health of my family," Duvall said.

This spring, the state sent an engineer to the site. He saw -- and smelled -- raw sewage seeping into the creek, according to an EPD report.

In September, the agency ordered the company that owns the mobile home park to fix the problem. Valerie Thompson of Hometown America said the company is evaluating its options, including connecting the trailers to sewer. Douglas County's sewer department estimates that would cost between $750,000 and $1 million.

But EPD generally pushes back problems with 1,000- and 1,500-gallon residential septic tanks to county environmental health departments. So, while state law requires EPD to monitor a big communal system that serves 90 homes, it doesn't require the agency to monitor a community in which 90 homes have individual tanks.

EPD doesn't have the staff or legal mandate to monitor smaller systems unless they pollute state waterways, Sommerville said.

The Department of Human Resources, which oversees septic tanks through county environmental health departments, says it doesn't have the power to require mandatory pumping.

"We would like to make sure people will maintain and manage their systems properly, but we don't have the legal authority to do that," said Scott Uhlich, who oversees the septic tank program for DHR.

Tanks favor growth

Developers who don't want to wait for sewer infrastructure in fast-growing counties continue to build on septic tanks.

Records indicate that more than 12,500 -- and perhaps as many as 17,000 -- septic tank permits were issued in 20 metro counties last year.

Septic tanks benefit local governments by boosting property tax rolls without the expense of sewer construction.

George McClure, past president of the Home Builders Association of Georgia who sat on a DHR committee that studies septic use, said systems that work properly are an effective way to handle sewage. Septic tanks also make it possible for people to live where they want, he said.

"People in Georgia have always lived on septic tanks. Sewer is a novelty to a lot of people in Cherokee," said McClure, who builds homes in Cobb, Forsyth and Cherokee counties.

In Paulding County about 70 percent of the nearly 2,600 single-family homes issued building permits last year came with septic tanks. In Henry County, roughly 43 percent of the more than 4,000 single-family houses issued building permits were on septic. In both counties, septic systems are mostly in unincorporated areas. According to the U.S. census, Paulding is the 11th-fastest-growing county in the nation, and Henry ranks third.

Even largely urban areas are adding septic systems. DeKalb County issued residential permits for 110 new tanks last year.

Gwinnett has more septic systems than any other county in Georgia -- 92,000 septic tanks at 76,500 addresses. Some houses have more than one tank. During the mid-1980s, the county issued permits for nearly 6,000 septic systems a year. Last year, almost half of Gwinnett's new homes hooked onto sewers, but the county still added 750 tanks.

Myron Orfield, a land-use expert who studies metropolitan development, said he has never seen a region with a higher density of septic tanks.

"It surprises me how many there are, the magnitude of it," said Orfield, who teaches at the University of Minnesota Law School.

He said every community he has encountered-- including suburban Detroit, Cincinnati and Minneapolis -- has had serious problems within 40 years of allowing major septic-enabled growth.

"When [septic tanks] get to a certain age, they all start going bad," he said. "I think it's a sleeping giant."

Still, there is little momentum in Georgia for change.

The Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, a state agency created to establish water-use guidelines for 16 metro Atlanta counties, recommends homeowners pump out septic tanks every five years. But turning that recommendation into a mandate would require new state laws or local ordinances.

State Sen. Casey Cagle (R-Gainesville), vice chairman of the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee, said mandatory pumping represents too much government interference. "When you start passing laws that mandate people to have their home sprayed for termites every two years and have their septic tank pumped every five years, and have their roof repaired every five years, I think you crossed the line," said Cagle, from fast-growing Hall County.

Paulding County Commission Chairman Jerry Shearin estimates 90 percent of houses in his county use septic systems. Yet he opposes mandatory pumping because it could cost some of his constituents too much money.

"My concern is in the rural part of our county. There are a lot of old people who live on fixed incomes," Shearin said. "That's going to hurt the members of society with the least amount of money."

Homeowners face fines

Some local governments do have requirements. The Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority can disconnect water to houses along the Dog River basin -- a county drinking water source -- if septic tanks aren't pumped every five years. It has disconnected two homes in seven years.

The city of Berkeley Lake in Gwinnett County established a pumping requirement for more than 600 lakefront homes. Homeowners who don't comply can face fines of $500 and 60 days in jail, said Marcie Zielazienski, who directs public works. No one has gone to jail, but a few homeowners have been fined.

Up the Chattahoochee River, Gwinnett resident Jackie Joseph doesn't worry too much about the septic tanks that line the banks of Lake Lanier, a major source of metro Atlanta's drinking water. But with most lakeside homes on septic systems, she acknowledges something could go wrong.

"The potential is always there for a problem," said Joseph, who leads the Lake Lanier Association, a group of homeowners and area businesses.

Joseph contends septic maintenance should be required, just as annual car emission inspections are required in metro counties with elevated air pollution.

"If they're assuring air quality for the future, what is the real difference?" she asked. "This is assuring water quality for the future."

Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Wayne Hill said he also would like to see fewer septic tanks going into the ground.

But, he said, as long as a homeowner's lot passes a soil inspection, the environmental health department has no choice but to issue a septic tank permit.

"I think it's the way we will continue to grow until some legislation is changed," said Hill, who said his own septic tank works just fine.

It hasn't been pumped in 16 years.

Reprinted with permission from The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution. Further reproduction, retransmission or distribution of these materials without the prior written consent of The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, and any copyright holder identified in the material's copyright notice, is prohibited.